Section: US & Canada

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In an Easter peace wish, Pope Francis on Sunday praised the framework nuclear agreement with Iran as an opportunity to make the world safer, while expressing deep worry about bloodshed in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. Francis made his first public comments about the recent framework for an accord,...

(CNN) — Easter is a cornerstone event in the Christian faith, but it’s surrounded by interesting quirks. It celebrates the completion of Christ’s mission of salvation in the Crucifixion and Resurrection. By dying on Good Friday, Christ atoned for the sins of others; by rising from the grave on Sunday, Christ conquered death. Simple...

Saint Petersburg (AFP) – Lyudmila Savchuk says it was money that wooed her into the ranks of the Kremlin’s online army, where she bombarded website comment pages with eulogies of President Vladimir Putin, while mocking his adversaries.”Putin is great,” “Ukrainians are Fascists,” “Europe is...

Moscow (AFP) – A year since the start of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin may not have emerged the winner in his showdown with the West but he has not lost either, analysts say.By supporting Ukrainian separatists, they say, he took a huge risk but it largely paid off as it allowed him to punish Kiev’s pro-Western...

Paris (AFP) – Bruised and battered after a year of armed conflict, Ukraine has been crippled by a combination of monetary, budgetary, industrial, banking and energy crises that could make it dependent on outside help for decades.The country has suffered a series of shocks that has obliterated its fragile economy.Its vital heavy industry, in...

OTTAWA – The federal government is confirming that an undisclosed number of Canadians have been taken out of Yemen, amid Russian state media reports that the Kremlin had helped them leave. Foreign Affairs spokesman John Babcock said in an email on Saturday they are aware that Canadians departed from Yemen safely. Russian news agency TASS reported...

OTTAWA – The federal government is confirming that an undisclosed number of Canadians have been taken out of Yemen, amid Russian state media reports that the Kremlin had helped them leave.Foreign Affairs spokesman John Babcock said in an email on Saturday they are aware that Canadians departed from Yemen safely.Russian news agency TASS...

FRANKFURT, Germany—The crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in France has heaped intense pressure on Lufthansa’s CEO Carsten Spohr, who in less than a year at the helm has had to grapple with weak earnings, labor unrest and tough competition from lower-cost carriers. Analysts say he has made the correct moves, notably in his swift expressions...

Russia’s relations with the West have sunk to the lowest level since the end of Cold War, since Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and Moscow’s involvement in continuous armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, in which it is providing support for separatist rebels who are fighting Kyiv government forces. Last month,...